Spectacular New Tau Herculids Meteor Shower May Light Up the Skies Over North America
Astronomers are excited about the possibility of a new meteor shower on May 30-31, the tau Herculid shower, forecast to peak on the night of…
Ancient Proteins Show First Australian People Ate Giant Eggs of Huge Flightless Birds
Researchers settle fierce debate surrounding ‘Thunder bird’ species, and whether its eggs were exploited by early Australian people around 50,000 years ago. Proteins extracted from…
Machine Learning Shows That More Reptile Species May Be at Risk of Extinction Than Previously Thought
Machine learning tool estimates extinction risk for species previously unprioritized for conservation. Species at risk of extinction are identified in the iconic Red List of…
On the Road to Cleaner, Greener, and Faster Driving – With Some Help From AI
MIT researchers use artificial intelligence to help autonomous vehicles avoid idling at red lights. No one enjoys waiting at a red light. But signalized intersections…
Webb Space Telescope’s Quest for Primeval Black Holes
The Webb Space Telescope team continues to work on commissioning the science instruments, the final step before starting science operations in the summer. We recently…
Science, Art, and Sustainability: How To Tie-Dye Cotton With Acorns and Rust
Tie-dyeing is a fun activity that can spice up clothing, such as t-shirts, with colorful patterns. Although tie-dye kits are available to buy in stores,…
Study Shows Siberian Tundra Could Virtually Disappear by Mid-Millennium
Research shows that only ambitious climate protection measures can still save a third of the tundra. Temperatures in the Arctic are climbing rapidly as a…
Changes in Brain’s Visual Processing Areas in Infancy Before Autism Diagnosis
Infants who were diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) at 24 months old had differences in the visual processing areas of the brain that were…
“Reverse Engineering” Brain Tissue Reveals Sugar-Studded Protein Linked to Alzheimer’s Disease
In a bit of “reverse engineering” research using brain tissues from five people who died with Alzheimer’s disease, Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers say they have…
Repurposed Antibiotic May Be an Effective COVID-19 Therapeutic
Study in mice suggests Clofoctol inhibits SARS-CoV-2 replication and reduces lung pathology. Repurposed drugs often have a speedier path to clinical use because they have…
Dust Avalanche on Mars
For decades, scientists have been observing dark landslides on Mars called slope streaks. First seen by the Viking orbiters in the 1970s, every orbiter mission…
Making Cancer Treatment Safer: New Method Could Help Relieve Immunotherapy Side Effects
Study shows combined IL-6 and immune checkpoint blockade reduces toxicity while preserving anti-tumor immune response The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center researchers have…
This Week @NASA: Starliner’s Historic Test Mission, Solar Sail, Mars Helicopter’s Record Flight
A commercial crew spacecraft’s historic test mission … Recognizing the leadership of our James Webb Space Telescope team … And a small spacecraft prepares for…
NASA’s Webb Space Telescope Program Director Named One of the Most Influential People in the World by TIME
NASA’s Webb Program Director Named to TIME100 List The head of NASA’s largest space science mission has been named one of the most influential people…
First Animals Formed Complex Ecological Communities Before the Cambrian Explosion
Metacommunity analysis suggests succession, not mass extinction, explains the Ediacaran diversity drop. Early animals developed complex ecological communities more than 550 million years ago, setting…
Astronomy & Astrophysics 101: Measuring the Age and Size of the Universe
How do we measure the age and size of the universe? The search for Cepheids The top-ranked scientific justification for building the Hubble Space Telescope…
Completely New Type of Magnetic Wave Discovered Sweeping Across Earth’s Outer Core
While volcanic eruptions and earthquakes serve as immediate reminders that Earth’s interior is anything but peaceful, there are also other, more elusive, dynamic processes taking…
Skydiving Salamanders Parachute and Glide From the World’s Tallest Trees
“Wandering salamanders” live in some of the tallest trees in the world. They also are known to jump when disturbed. Now, scientists report in the…